About: This is a history of the Quaker community which settled in the valley of the King’s River in West Wicklow. Also known as ‘The Religious Society of Friends’, The Quakers were heavily involved in the woollen and textile industry. Appendices to the main text include individual family details and a brief explanation of Quaker origins. This book was originally published as an eBook on the author’s website in 2015.

ID number(s): 9781911345565

Contents: Preface – Acknowledgements – Foreword / Christopher Moriarty – Ballymore-Eustace, the gateway to West Wicklow — Baltyboys — The Quakers’ move to Ireland — The founding of Blessington ‘New Town’ – Visits by important Quakers to Dublin — Peter Peisley’s move to Baltyboys — The first Quaker lease at Baltyboys, 1678 — The role of the early Quakers at Baltyboys — The rationale for Quakers to settle at Baltyboys—Connections of the Baltyboys Quakers with Dublin — William Lappam’s refusal to pay tithes — Anthony Sharp’s visit to Blessington — Quaker settlement beyond Baltyboys — Other Protestant settlers of the early 1700s — Quaker weaving activities at Baltyboys – Disownments – Quaker Families at Baltyboys in 1791 — Peisleys replaced by Radcliﬀes – The 1798 Rebellion — Quaker Migration into the Church of Ireland — After the Quakers – Appendices: 1. The ‘Religious Society of Friends’ – 2.The Quaker meeting house and graveyard at Baltyboys – 3. Notes on individual Quaker families of Baltyboys – 4. Other family names.

About: The story of World War I as told through the eyes of Irish heroes and heroines of the conflict. Entries range from single-paragraph anecdotes to multi-page chapters and include people like nuns, artists, sportsmen, poets, aristocrats, nationalists, nurses, clergymen and film directors. This is not a dry, dusty history but the experiences of real people told in the author’s trademark engaging style.

About: Blessington Golfing Society was founded in 1987 and has always been headquartered in Hennessey’s Pub in Blessington. This A4-size souvenir booklet was produced to mark a quarter-century of the society’s activities. It contains memories and anecdotes and is lavishly illustrated with dozens of colour photographs.

About: More than half of this nice little book is taken up with Andy Farrington’s account of a life spent as a stonecutter in Ballyknockan. The remainder of the book includes contributions from neighbours on the same topic and also looks at other aspects of Ballyknockan history.

ID number(s): None

Contents: Introduction – Growing up in Ballyknockan – My life as a stonecutter – The contributions of the quarry men to the Church — The Ballyknockan Brass & Reed Band — The next generation / John McEvoy — Giant granite stone 1890 — Neddy Cullen – Working in Osborne and Brady quarry / Jim Behan – Michael Freeman’s account of his life as a stonecutter / Michael Freeman — Turf cutting — Conclusion.

About: This book, which is dedicated to ‘all those who had a role in the electrification of rural Ireland’ goes behind the roll-out of the Rural Electrical Scheme. The editors have sought out personal eyewitness accounts and short stories based on the experiences of ordinary people throughout the countryside. Four of the chapters / stories are based in West Wicklow and feature Stratford-on-Slaney, Knockananna, Lacken and Carrigeen/Irongrange.

About: This is the third book in a series of historical crime fiction featuring the West Wicklow based Detective Inspector Stefan Gillespie. The action ranges from the Wicklow Mountains through Dublin and on to Spain and Portugal. The book is set in the early 1940’s which allows the author scope to use Second World War Europe and the ‘Emergency’ period in Ireland as backdrop to the story.

ID number(s): 9781472121929 / 9781472121912 / 9781472121943

WW Connection #1: The hometown of the main character is given as Baltinglass.

WW Connection #2: The author is a resident of the Baltinglass / Kiltegan area.

Extra #1: Opening lines: “There was barely a whisper of mist on the Upper Lake, a softness in the air where the water rippled among reeds and lapped on the pebble beach at the eastern end…”

About: If this were a novel it would be a family saga. However, it is all true. The author writes about an orphanage, an adoption and a placement with a family that she seemed to belong to. She discovers in the end that her ties with them were closer than she could have imagined. The book tells the story of the Cooke Family and ranges across Scotland, Ireland, England and Australia. A second edition of this book was published in 2012.

WW Connection #1: The Cooke Family had strong connections with Baltinglass and its Post Office. Helen Cooke was the de facto Postmistress when the infamous ‘Battle of Baltinglass’ incident occurred in the early 1950s.

About: This book is all that is needed in relation to the literary output of the multifaceted and multi-talented Caitlín Maude. It collects in a single volume two earlier books (‘Dánta’, 1984 and ‘Drámaiocht, agus Prós’, 1988). As well as the poems, plays and prose penned by Caitlín Maude, the book contains two important essays on her work. The first is by Tomás Mac Siomóin in the form of the foreword to the poems (pp 2-17). The second is by the editor, Ciarán Ó Coigligh and entitled ‘Léamh an Eagarthóra ar na Dánta’ (pp 83-111). Both essays are in the Irish Language.

Publisher / Place of Publication: The National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government / Dublin

About: Today, the area regarded as the Wicklow Uplands is mostly included within the Wicklow Mountains National Park. While permanent inhabitants of this area may be as rare as the Abominable Snowman, there is nonetheless a rich social history story to be told. This ranges from the prehistoric period through to the centuries of active resistance to English rule. This study of the history and heritage of the Wicklow Uplands was undertaken at the request of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (Eastern Division).

ID number(s): 0755716930

Contents: Figures and Tables – Abbreviations – The Author – Acknowledgements – Ice Sculptures – Wicklow’s Earliest Inhabitants – Early Human Sculptors – Gaeil is Gaill – War and Peace – New Times, and a New County – From Restoration to Union: The Restoration; The Late Seventeenth Century; The Protestant Ascendancy – War, and a New County – Final Thoughts – References – Bibliography.

About: Education has always been held in high regard in Ireland. So-called hedge schools preserved a link between the Bardic Schools of the Gaelic era and the introduction of the National School system in the first half of the nineteenth century. Hedge schools proliferated following the enactment of the Penal Laws and, although not necessarily located beside hedgerows, they became an unofficial system of education in their own right. In this well researched book, the author provides the historical context for hedge schools and provides a checklist of known locations of hedge schools in each barony of the county of Wicklow.